We talked to Peter Wolf of Azamba and AJ Ansari of DSWi in May just after Microsoft announced the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program (MCPP) and they had a range concerns about how the early details appeared to impact SMB Business Applications partners. In short, the scoring at the time seemed geared toward enterprise-level partners and ran the risk of shutting a whole segment of partners out of the benefits they enjoy today by achieving Gold and Silver status. Today, the story is quite a bit different. MCPP has officially launched, but it has evolved for the better, according to AJ and Peter. They've come back to the MSDW Podcast to discuss the SMB-friendly updates, to compare notes on their company's scores in the new model, and to do their best to break down some of the scoring criteria as Microsoft has explained it. While Peter and AJ both say the program is still far from perfect, they give Microsoft credit for the improvements thus far. Show Notes: Microsoft's documentation on eligible customers and workloads Microsoft's announcement of updated solution designations for Enterprise and SMB Business Applications partners Monthly consumption value: Microsoft Learn AJ's Links: Twitter: @AJAnsariNAV LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajansari Business Journals Leadership Trust Peter's Links: Twitter: @CRMWolf Linkedin: Peter Wolf | LinkedIn Website: www.azamba.com YouTube: Azamba – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjbIdrZ7CYA

Watch this webinar to hear real-world and practical examples of how Alithya is helping organizations embrace a “data first” strategy by leveraging Oracle EDM for business transformation! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_8O4FwXJQ0

This episode is sponsored by AutoPylot Technologies. It’s a universal complaint: the sales reps don’t use the CRM. It’s too much effort and takes too much time. As a result, the data in a system like Dynamics 365 Sales is incomplete. CRM may fail to meet expectations, yet the CRM remains the data touchpoint to a range of downstream business processes and decisions. In this episode, we talk with Steve Shaw of AutoPylot Technologies Corp. about how and why they have entered the Microsoft Dynamics space with a new mobile app for that integrates D365 with added automation and other smart features to encourage sales reps to capture key data. Steve explains why company decided to enter this competitive market and the early results of upcoming research highlighting the impact automation can have on CRM adoption. We also discuss the complementary nature of AutoPylot and Viva Sales, and how conversational AI always starts with conversations. Show Notes: 1:15 – AutoPylot's history and the decision to enter the Microsoft space 2:45 – Why sales reps embrace automation, including new research findings 4:45 – Must-have features of sales automation 6:30 – The importance of tracking data to manage the sales process 8:00 – What it takes to deploy an automation solution for sellers on top of CRM 9:15 – How do companies tend to get started with AutoPylot? 10:30 – Engaging with the Microsoft channel 11:30 – Viva Sales and how AutoPylot will complement it and contributer to conversation intelligence 14:45 – Experiences as part of Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub 16:00 – Why sales automation remains relevant To learn how AutoPylot can solve for your biggest CRM frustration, visit www.autopylot.com. And they will be at booth 640 at Community Summit North America 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iREUzWQfBy4